Reduced Time to Hire: Proven Strategies that Work

A typical recruitment process is time-intensive. According to a study, 57% of job applicants lose interest if the hiring process is too long.

There could be several factors that cause delays in the hiring process; therefore, it is essential to identify the areas that need to be improved. In this blog, we will explore key considerations when striving to decrease the time-to-hire effectively.

What is time-to-hire?

Time-to-hire is one of the most critical hiring metric. It refers to the time an applicant takes to proceed through the organization’s hiring process, from when the candidate submits the job application to the offer acceptance stage for a job position.

Why is reducing the time to hire important?

• It enables recruiters to stay ahead of their hiring goals.
• It helps employers stay competent in the talent market.
• It reduces cost per hire and overall hiring cost.
• It serves as an indication of a good employer brand.
• It can potentially improve candidate experience.
• It ensures quality hires as top talents prefer shorter waiting periods.

 

1. Empower candidate sourcing

Candidate sourcing is one of the most crucial steps that might consume unpredictable time and resources. This is why it is vital to streamline candidate sourcing steps to optimize the hiring time. Here, it is crucial to engage in multiple channels for candidate sourcing so that you can expect a consistent number of applicants.

Enable semi-automated job posting

Several online tools and platforms enable running paid job campaigns targeting a relevant set of audiences. Such tools can schedule and post job postings on several platforms in a single click. They also give per-post insights regarding the post reach and engagement metrics, thereby helping recruiters improve their job posts.

Engage in social media talent attraction strategies

Social media has the potential to reduce the time to hire significantly. Social media allows recruiters to reach a wider pool of candidates. According to a study, social media job posts and adverts can reach 80% of passive job seekers.

Have a job or employee referral system in place

Providing an opportunity for the organization’s employees to refer candidates from their known circles and extending the job referral campaign to other circles can significantly reduce the time to source candidates. This also enables free word-of-mouth promotion for the job post. Here, it is essential to keep the job referral campaign well-rewarded to reap maximum benefits.

2. Invest in recruitment management tools

AI-ML enabled recruitment tools

Technology such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are increasingly used in recruitment. For instance, AI resume parsing tools can intelligently rank candidates based on their skills, experience, and educational qualifications. AI and ML tools can also engage your candidates with chatbots, notifications, test automation, and writing Job Descriptions, which are easily customizable.

Implement automation

Recruitment automation undoubtedly reduces the hiring time as it takes care of redundant processes, thereby offering recruiters more time, which can be utilized elsewhere—several labor-intensive steps in recruitment cost time and effort; this is where automation comes as a helping hand. Moreover, automation is a one-time hiring investment, which is worth considering, especially if you are dealing with a high volume of CVs.

Work for recruitment process integration

A typical recruitment process involves several processes, such as candidate sourcing, candidate screening, skill assessment, interview scheduling, and applicant tracking. As all such recruitment processes are connected, it is ideal to combine the tools used for each hiring step. Leading recruiters manage all the recruitment processes from a centralized location, such as an Applicant Tracking System (ATS).

3. Streamline your recruitment process flow

Build a talent pipeline well in advance

Shopify witnessed a hike in employees from 550 to 2,000 in just three years due to its highly focused and streamlined talent pipeline. Therefore, if you intend to reduce the time to hire while scaling your hiring process, the most important thing is to plan the hiring strategy to be implemented for a particular job role.

Keep your hiring team proactive and focused

Being a recruiter, it is important to stay proactive in building a talent pool and attracting passive candidates. Therefore, it is crucial to have an open link or form where candidates can drop their CVs. Keep your organization’s career page informative and mobile-compliant, where interested candidates can submit applications and register to receive job alerts for future job vacancies.

Enable data-driven hiring

It is essential to keep your hiring endeavors data-driven. With a data-driven hiring approach, the recruitment process can be made more accessible and more focused. Moreover, it becomes easier for recruiters and HR heads to decide on the steps where the hiring teams should focus more. Also, analyzing and keeping track of the hiring success rate periodically becomes easier with data.

Final Takeaways

Time-to-hire is an underestimated hiring metric that can affect the organization’s hiring goal and cost. Therefore, recruiters need to systematically identify bottlenecks at each step of the hiring process to take a call regarding the time-intensive steps and act accordingly to optimize hiring time.